The House of Healing
by Cranberry Cocktail
Summary: Harry and Ginny rushed into marrige. Ron and Hermione's relationship is stalled. It's after the Final Battle, and everyones looking for salvation. A summer house turns into a place of healing. Long 5 part prologue begins the story. RHr and HG
1. Prologue: Lynne Jennings

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything Harry Potter. Trust me.

**A/N:** Okay, well I've returned again with another story! Yay! Anywhoo…these first chapters are going to be filled with back story. It's like a giant prologue! Give me a couple of weeks to sort out everything and to have the rest of this really, really , really long prologue up. Enjoy!

**Summary of Story:** _It's a couple of years after the Final Battle and Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny have been through a lot. In order to cope with everything Harry decides to rent out a house and bring his friends together, to try and heal. (It's A LOT more detailed than this, and you'll see that as you read on through all of the prologues.)_

**PROLOGUE:** _Lynne Jennings_

--

_June 24th_

The sun shimmered on the tinted glass of World Wizarding Inc., as Lynne Jennings approached the revolving doors. With a nod towards the security wizard stationed outside, Lynne made her way through the doors, across the lobby, and to the high polished lift. She shifted her morning coffee and her briefcase to her other hand as she punched the 'up' button with a carefully manicured fingernail. As the lift doors peeled open, Lynne joined the small crowd already congregated inside the cramped area. She tapped the button for floor 49, as the doors shut with a small rush of air. A poor remake of an old Weird Sister's song was playing quietly in the background.

On the 37th floor, the lift doors opened again and a large portion of the crowd exited. The doors closed once more and opened once again on floor 49. Lynne excused herself past an elderly wizard of at least a 100, and exited the lift. She smiled at Ellen the receptionist, as she made her way across the small room and down a hallway to the right. She passed by many small office cubicles, all made out of glass. Lynne smiled and waved occasionally as she approached her boss' office at the end of the makeshift hallway.

She knocked quietly and with coffee and briefcase still in hand, she entered the office and sat down. Lynne's boss, Pete Kole, was a skinny man with no hair and very little fashion sense. If it wasn't for his wife, Lynne doubted that Pete could dress himself decently. She sat down, smiled, and placed her coffee on the desk and her briefcase resting against the leg of the comfortable cloth chair she was sitting in. Now all that was left, was an explanation for why she had been called in on her day off.

"You're wondering why I've called." said Pete casually as he opened a file sitting on his desk.

"Maybe." Lynne said as she smoothed out a wrinkle in her navy blue skirt.

"Well," said Pete as he skimmed through a couple of the pieces of parchment, "a young man is interested in renting out the Austin estate."

"Is he insane?" Lynne questioned as she sat up quickly in her chair. "Nobody has touched that house in years. I thought you were going to drop it?"

"I was. But the offer came in late last night, and I figured you were the person to handle it."

"Of course. Who's the client?" Lynne tried to study the folder, but it was too far away. She'd left her black, framed reading glasses on the kitchen counter. She reached for her mildly warm coffee instead.

"Harry Potter."

Lynne who had just taken a sip, spewed the dark, muddy liquid all over Pete's desk. Pete reached for his wand and tried to clean the worst of it off of the paperwork in front of him. Lynne wiped her mouth and gaped. "What?"

Pete just frowned. "I thought you'd be able to handle this. Maybe I should give it to somebody with a little more experience and patience."

"No! I can handle it!" said Lynne as she vigorously nodded her head. "I promise not to embarrass myself or the company. Don't worry."

"Good." Pete closed the now dry folder and shoved it across the desk towards Lynne. "He'll be here this afternoon to sign the paperwork."

"Has he seen the house yet?"

"No. You might want to bring that up when you meet with him later."

"Sounds good." Lynne grabbed her briefcase and carefully placed the folder inside. She grabbed her remaining coffee and stood. "I'll let you know how the meeting goes." Lynne walked through the door and started back down the hallway. Almost halfway down, she stopped outside of a dark cubicle on the left and fiddled with the knob. It opened and she hit the lights located next to the door. The tiny space flooded with bright light and revealed its contents.

Lynne's office was slightly on the boring side. The light brown walls, tan carpeting, dark brown desk and small artificial plant, made the room look like a tacky furniture display. Lynne hung her coat on a small coat-rack in the corner behind the door. She walked around her desk and sat down, in the overly large leather chair. She frowned at all of the parchment that was spread around her desk. Broken quills and half-empty ink bottles littered what was left of it. She'd spent a good part of the night finishing up a major deal for the Minister of Magic.

Lynne pulled out her wand and muttered "Scourgify!" All of the quills, ink bottles, and parchment that she didn't need vanished off of her desk. It was now possible to make out the dark, glossy finish that laid beneath it. Lynne took a sip of her now cold coffee, and turned her attention to the memos that had just zoomed through the door. They landed on her desk and she proceeded to open them. But before she could even flick open the seal, there was a quick knock on the open door and Paige Nuwten walked quickly through the doorway.

"Lynne, I've just heard! Oh, it's just amazing. You're soooo lucky."

"Excuse me?"

Paige was shaking with excitement. "The Harry Potter account!" She nearly shouted.

"Oh. Is that all?" Lynne went to her briefcase and started pulling out its contents. The folder on Harry Potter was among the small pile. She made an effort in hiding it from view. When she looked back up at Paige, she saw that the smile had wilted slightly.

"I'm guessing Pete had the 'Make the company look good or your fired' thing going on, right? He's not allowing you to be overly excited." said Paige as she played with a small snow globe sitting on Lynne's desk.

"Well, I did spew coffee all over his desk at the mention of the client."

Paige laughed loudly. "I would have paid good galleons to see that."

"You, and just about everybody else. Look, I don't mean to be rude Paige, but I really need to get started on this thing. We'll get lunch later okay?"

Paige nodded. "You're work is never done." Paige placed the snow globe back on Lynne's desk and proceeded to walk out of the office. She smiled and waved as she disappeared through the door.

Lynne sighed and shuffled through the pile of parchment on her desk to get to the Harry Potter folder. She pulled it out and opened it, quickly skimming the information that she already knew. Mr. Potter wanted to rent out the old rickety house for two months, July and August. It had been years since anybody had even been slightly interested in looking at it. On the odd chance that they saw it, they decided that it "just wasn't for them" and took off quicker then you could believe. Lynne closed the folder and placed it off to the side. She had a good couple of hours worth of paperwork to do, before Mr. Potter showed up.

--

"Lynne!" Paige hissed as she sprung through the door. "He's here!"

"Harry Potter?" asked Lynne as she began frantically shoving the parchment she had just been working on, into a drawer of her desk. "He's early! Oh, where did I put his folder? Shite!"

"Breathe. I saw him and Pete as I was coming back from the loo."

"I found it!" Lynne called triumphantly as she slapped the slightly crumpled folder on her desk.

Paige cursed under her breath. "They're coming! Good luck!" Paige quickly exited the office.

Lynne tried to quickly sort out her appearance, by smoothing out her skirt and throwing on her suit jacket. If she'd had the time, she would've run to the ladies and put on more lippy.

"This is Lynne Jennings, our head realtor." Pete said proudly as he motioned Harry Potter into the room. "I'll let you two get started then." He nodded at Lynne and swept briskly from the room. In front of clients he was all business. Lynne smiled and pushed a piece of her dirty blonde hair behind her ear.

"Please, Mr. Potter, take a seat."

"Call me Harry." Harry said quietly as he sat down in the dark beige chair opposite Lynne.

Lynne nodded. "Would you like anything to drink?"

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his seat and cleared his throat. "No thank you."

"Let's get down to business then. You would like to rent out the Austin estate, located at 311 Tungsten Lane, in Scotland. You wish to rent out the home for two months, July and August correct?"

"Correct." Harry was looking absentmindedly at the snow globe on Lynne's desk.

"Would you be interested in looking at the home before you sign the papers?"

Harry shook his head. "No."

"Excellent. If you could just read through this agreement and si-"

Harry grabbed the quill out of Lynne's hand and signed the contract quickly. He pulled out a small bag of gold. "This should cover the two months."

Lynne gaped. "It's not necessary to pay right now, Mr. Potter." At the look on his face she changed tracks. "But, if you wish to take care of it now, that would be fine."

Harry looked around uneasily. "Is that all?"

Lynne's professional smile returned to her face. "Yes, that's all. Here are the keys." Lynne placed the set of small, engraved silver keys into Harry's outstretched hand. "Once you get there, you'll be able to place a charm on the lock so that you'll be able to get in with your wand."

Harry stood and placed the keys in the pocket of his jeans. "Thanks." Harry offered her his hand, and Lynne shook it gently.

"Your welcome. Good evening, Mr. Potter."

"Good night." With that, Harry turned on his heel and slowly made his way out of the office. Lynne watched him go down the hall and eventually out of sight, through the glass of her office cubicle. Lynne let out a breath she didn't even know she'd been holding. She looked around her office, and it suddenly appeared to small and cramped for her liking. She dug through her drawers and found the papers that she needed, and placed them in her briefcase along with her wand. She rose from her chair and swung the door around in order to get to her coat. She put it on, shut off the lights, and walked through the doorway into the quite hallway.

She shut her office door and jiggled with the knob. Once she was positive the door was closed and that it would stay that way, she made her way down the row of cubicles and to the small lobby. She waved goodbye to Ellen, who was trying to send out an inner office memo, and approached the lift. She tapped the letter 'L' for lobby and stepped into the now quite space. Another Weird Sisters' remake was playing clearly through the lift. With a small whoosh, the lift doors opened to reveal the large expanse of the main lobby. She walked out of the lift, across the lobby and through the revolving doors. She nodded to the security wizard stationed outside and made her way down the sidewalk, and around the corner.

The streetlights glittered on the tinted glass of World Wizarding Inc.  
----

**A/N:**And I should also mention, that Lynne isn't a key character...it's all part of my master prologue plan, and I had to start somewhere!

**Next Installment:  
**_Prologue: Harry Potter_


	2. Prologue: Harry Potter

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Harry Potter. It's a fact.

**A/N:** Excellent start! I must note, that in the beginning of this chapter I make Harry seem a lot more depressed and my writing style is a bit stiffer. But towards the second half, there seems to be a bit of a swing and I think my writing gets a bit funnier. I think I'm going to take a sligtly different approach to the writing style and try to add a bit of humor. But there will also be plenty of drama. So don't fret.

PROLOGUE: _Harry Potter_

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_**June 25th**_

Harry Potter walked quickly through the pouring rain, as he made his way towards the old, oak door of the Leaky Cauldron. His wild black hair was matted down and his trainers were damp with water. With a sigh, he pushed open the door to the old pub and entered quickly. As he pulled out his wand and began to magically dry himself off, he scanned the room for Hermione Granger. Harry spotted her easily; the bushy hair and pile of books being a dead giveaway. He pocketed his wand and made his way towards Hermione, excusing himself as he moved around the maze of rickety tables.

"Hi, Hermione." Harry said with a grin, as he pulled up a chair and sat down.

"Hello." Hermione paused for a moment, on the verge of saying something more. She bit her lip and then seemed to come to some sort of silent conclusion. "How are you, Harry? I want an honest answer." Her eyes went wide with worry.

"I'm…well you see…er…today's better than yesterday."

Hermione smiled slightly. "Well, that's good."

Harry frowned and looked away. "How is she?"

"Ginny?"

Harry turned back to Hermione, his eyes narrowed. "Yeah. Her."

"Well, from what I've seen she's…," Hermione paused and looked towards Harry, "…getting along. At least she's somewhat getting along. She's social and enjoyable and everything, but she rarely leaves the house. You know she's back at the Burrow, right?"

Harry nodded his head.

"Since she doesn't really leave the house, Ron goes and visits her a couple of times a week. I go whenever I have a bit of time off of work." Hermione indicated the large pile of books and the numerous sheets of parchment laid upon the table. "Unfortunately, that's not very often."

Harry again nodded his head even though he wasn't completely listening. He remembered the day that Ron's and his friendship seemed to come to a halt.

_FLASHBACK_

_March 3rd_

_"I'm sorry." Harry muttered as he looked down at his shoes. He couldn't seem to look Ron in the eyes._

_"SORRY?" Ron exploded as he paced in front of Harry. "Do you have any idea what you've done? You promised her!"_

_Harry swallowed the large lump forming in his throat. He looked up from his shoes and finally looked to Ron. Ron's ears were red and his cheeks were flushed. Ron stopped moving when he realized that Harry was starring at him. Ron rubbed his hands over his face and took a deep breath._

_"I…I just need some time. I'm sorry. Tell Ginny I'm sorry." With that Harry turned toward the fireplace, threw in some floo powder, and disappeared among bright green flames._

_END_

"Harry?" Hermione asked as she poked him lightly in the arm. "You were drifting there a little."

Harry cleared his throat. "Sorry. It's just been one of those days."

Hermione smiled. "So, what did you want to talk about? You did ask me out to lunch after all."

Harry reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of keys. "These," he said shaking the keys slightly as he held them out to her, "are keys to a house. I'm renting it out for the next two months, and I was wondering if you and Ron would like to join me."

Hermione opened her mouth but then abruptly closed it.

"I know Ron isn't too happy with me at the moment, but I was hoping you could talk him into going. I was going to invite Ginny as well." Harry placed the keys back into his pocket and stared at Hermione. "So…I need your help in getting them to come along."

Hermione stayed silent.

"I know I've been a git these past couple of months, but I'm trying to fix things. I'm trying to set things straight. The four of us could do with getting out of our current surroundings and getting some good, fresh, Scottish air. What do you say?" Harry looked at Hermione's slightly open mouth and grinned. "Bit wild, right?"

"A…bit." Hermione said quietly. "Not that this wouldn't be wonderful Harry, but how are you going to convince Ron and Ginny to go on holiday with you?"

Harry's smile didn't falter. "I'm not the one convincing them to go on holiday. You are. Just spin them some kind of story about relaxing and enjoying the countryside. It'll be a right surprise when I pop in and join the three of you."

"It'll be a surprise all right." Hermione mumbled as she stared at one of the many open books on the table.

"You'll help me then?"

Hermione sighed heavily. "Okay. But if you get injured when Ron finds out, it's not my fault."

Harry pulled Hermione into a hug.

--

_**June 26th**_

Harry paused as he peered into one of the boxes he had been moving around. Inside the box was a rather small collection of photographs and other random items he had thrown in there haphazardly. Harry picked up the box and carried it out of his large walk in closet, placing the dusty and bent container on his bed. He sat down next to it and began riffling through the contents that sat on top. There were a few Ministry leaflets, some old letters he had received during his stay at Hogwarts, and some of his N.E.W.T. level textbooks. But underneath all of this, sat a small array of photographs that waved, smiled, and winked back at Harry.

_FLASHBACK_

_January 2nd_

_Harry chuckled as he watched Ginny spin around in circles. Ginny was attempting to take in the surroundings of Harry's new flat. She suddenly stopped spinning and launched herself onto Harry. He grunted as he took the impact and somehow managed to fall on the only piece of furniture in the room. She laughed loudly and adjusted herself so that her head laid comfortably on Harry's shoulder. Harry ran his fingers through Ginny's hair, as he looked out of the window at the bright sunshine._

_"Gin?" Harry asked as he continued to play with her hair. "Will you move in with me?"_

_Ginny started and removed her head from Harry's shoulder. She turned towards him and nodded her head. "Yeah. I'd love to move in with you."_

_Harry smirked as he pushed Ginny down against the couch and kissed her._

_END_

He collected all of the pictures and placed them on his bedside table, so he could look at them later. He packed up the box and placed it back into the depths of his closet. He preceded to finish stacking the boxes he had been tending to, before heading to take a shower. He was detoured however, when there was a sharp knock on his door. He let out a sigh of relief when he saw that it was in fact Hermione and not some crazed Dark Lord wannabe.

"So, how'd it go?" Harry asked as he ushered Hermione through the door.

"Well Ron's agreed to come, but Ginny's a whole other matter." Hermione replied as she sat down in a large, comfy armchair. "I told her that Ron and I were going to go and asked if she would like to come along. But she said that she didn't feel like going, and that she could enjoy fresh country air at the Burrow."

Harry frowned. "Maybe if I went to go and talk to her. She might change her mind. It's been a few months now."

Hermione seemed to think for a moment before replying. "It's worth a shot. But don't be surprised if she isn't exactly happy to see you."

"Don't worry. I wont get my hopes up."

--

_**June 28th**_

Harry appeared outside of the Burrow and immediately regretted ever doing so. He was suddenly hit with a huge desire to flee, but somehow he gathered himself up and entered through the door and into the kitchen. Luckily nobody was currently in the kitchen, so Harry quickly headed for the stairs and hurried up them. He didn't get very far though, as he collided with something quite solid. He looked at the supposedly solid object, to find that said solid object had red hair and the famous Weasley blush. Harry had run right into Ginny.

Harry cleared his throat. "Hello."

Ginny just stared.

"Could we talk?"

Ginny continued to stare.

"Right. Er…cheers." With that Harry quickly turned and headed for the kitchen, where he practically flew through the door. He turned and disappeared into thin air, the moment he was outside of the Burrow.

--

Harry was laying on his bed, when he heard Hermione barge through the front door and begin calling for him. He covered his face with his hands as he heard her open his bedroom door and cringed when she slammed it. He slowly lowered his hands and found one very confused looking Hermione Granger staring back at him.

"Harry, what in Merlin's name were you thinking? Ginny is incredibly confused, and with good reason. I went over there today and she told me that you had barged in earlier this morning, and then you didn't even say anything. Honestly."

Harry sat up and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "She just stared at me! I froze."

"You're Harry Potter, the Boy Who Bloody Lived! Who knew you'd be afraid of your ex-girlfriend?"

"Maybe this isn't a good idea. You and Ron should take the house. Just forget I ever mentioned anything."

"No! You can't give up this easily! Look, I'll have another talk with her and maybe I can salvage this whole thing. I'll be in touch."

"Thanks, Hermione." Harry called as Hermione left the bedroom and closed the front door with more force than really needed.

--

_**June 30th**_

Harry looked up from his Daily Prophet when he noticed Pig at the window. He quickly put the paper down and opened the window, allowing the small bird entry into his flat. It took him a moment, but Harry was eventually able to untie the letter from Pig's leg. Pig took off the instant he was free of Harry grasp. Harry closed the window and returned to his kitchen table. He recognized Hermione's handwriting immediately, as he began to unroll the parchment. It appeared that she had been in a hurry, because her handwriting was hurried and cramped.

_Harry-_

_I've got to hurry and write this because I don't have much time, and clearly nor do you. I spoke with Ginny last night and I amazingly was able to convince her to come. Now, she doesn't know that you're going to be there, seeing as you never got the chance to mention it to her. We'll be heading for the house tomorrow, so I'll need you to owl me the keys by tonight. Pack your bags Harry, because the trip is on. I'll see you tomorrow!_

_Hermione_

With a smile Harry rolled the letter back up sighed. He was getting a chance to make things right again.

He wasn't going to screw it up.

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**A/N:** Woooooow. That took me a loooong time. Please review!

**Next Installment:  
**PROLOGUE: _Hermione Granger_


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